SOEST in the News: 2008

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	Apr 29 : HNEI leads federal energy research project in Hawai‘i The Hawai‘i Natural Energy Institute (HNEI) has been selected as one of nine sites chosen to work on the U.S. Department of Energy’s efforts to “modernize the nation’s electricity grid,” the federal department announced. HNEI will develop and test an energy-management system to address electricity grid congestion, energy reserves, and intermittent power supplies. Read more in the Pacific Business News. Image courtesy of HNEI.
	Apr 23 : Mysterious currents in our oceans Overlaid on the grand ocean gyres are mysterious currents flowing in an alternating east-west pattern, according to analyses of direct ocean observations, satellite images and computer models conducted by the International Pacific Research Center’s (IPRC) Nikolai Maximenko and Oleg Melnichenko along with colleagues from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Read more about it in the New Scientist and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, and on the IPRC news page . Image courtesy N. Maximenko; click on it to see the full version.
	Apr 22 : Two UH Sea Grant personnel in the news An article in West Hawaii Today focuses on ReefWatchers, a group of trained volunteers organized by Sara Peck, UH Sea Grant Coastal Resource Extension Agent in West Hawai‘i. They will be collecting valuable data for researchers worldwide on Cauliflower coral (Polcillopora meandrina) spawning in waters around the Big Island. Adam Asquith, UH Sea Grant Extension Specialist on Kaua‘i, is quoted in a Honolulu Advertiser article about a recent conference which, among other things, touted the benefits of eating locally grown food and examined ways Hawai‘i can reduce its dependence on imported food.
	Apr 22 : Sea level rise to slowly swamp coastal zones Coastal geologist Chip Fletcher is chair of the Geology and Geophysics department and head of the Coastal Geology Group. In a video interview, he discusses the impact beach erosion and sea level rise will have in Hawai‘i in the next few decades, and how, as nearshore areas are expected to become extremely vulnerable to flooding at high tide and after heavy rains, we are going to need to change how and where we build. “We have decades over which this problem is going to worsen. And over decades we’re able to adapt our development,” he said. Read more about it at see the interview at KGMB9.com. Image courtesy SOEST.
	Apr 17 : The need for more lunar scientists New missions planned to visit the moon will mean a need for more lunar scientists, says G. Jeffrey Taylor, a planetary scientist at the Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP). The missions include robotic ones that will launch this year, followed by manned missions slated for 2020. Read more about it in MSNBC. Image courtesy of NASA GRC; click on it to see the full version.
	Apr 17 : HURL subs to help with weapons at sea assessment Hawai‘i Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL) researchers using the Pisces submersibles will be working with the Army to investigate thousands of chemical munitions off the coast of O‘ahu, many of which are deteriorating in the ocean water. This fall they will be mapping the munition fields and will collect samples to aid in the clean-up. Read more about it and see videos at KHON2 online and at KHNL online. Image courtesy of KHON2.
	Apr 15 : Opportunities for Hawai‘i science majors Applications are being accepted for the Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education’s (C-MORE) Scholars Program, which seeks to recruit underrepresented UH students (especially Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders) to science-related majors. "The idea is to bring people in and get their confidence and skills up," said Barbara Bruno, Associate Specialist and C-MORE Education Office coordinator. Read more in the Ka Leo O Hawai‘i. Image by Rachel Manuel, courtesy of Ka ‘Imi ‘Ike; click on it to see the full version.
	Apr 12 : Seafloor sediments reveal size of ancient asteroid strike Scientists have developed a new tool for determining the projectile size and frequency of chondritic meteorites that have collided with the Earth. François Paquay, a Doctoral graduate student in the Department of Geology and Geophysics, advisor and co-author Gregory Ravizza, and others used variations of osmium isotope composition in the marine sediment record to estimate size of these impactors, including the “dinosaur killer,” which they calculate was less than half the size of previous estimates. Results are published in the April 11th edition of the journal Science. Read more about it in New Scientist, Nature News, National Geographic, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, and the USA Today. Image courtesy NASA; click on it to see the full version.
	Apr 03 : First explosive eruption at Halema‘uma‘u since 1924 Explosive eruptions and noxious gas emissions at the Halema‘uma‘u crater of Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island of Hawai‘i have prompted scientists to work around the clock to understand what will happen next and how to keep the public out of harm’s way. Low frequency sound waves associated with the recent eruptions were detected by Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) associate researcher Milton Garces, director of the Infrasound laboratory. Read more about it in Science Daily or read the USGS press release. Image courtesy of USGS.
	Mar 31 : SOEST scientists find seafloor rock 2 billion years old Geologist Eric Hellebrand was co-leader of an expedition to the Arctic Ocean which discovered rocks that have survived the mixing process in the deep mantle; some have retained their two-billion-year-old melting signatures, preserved by the complex geologic history of the region. This indicates that mantle heterogeneity may turn out to be more widespread in mid-ocean ridge settings than inferred from the more commonly studied erupted lavas. The results were recently published in the journal Nature. Read more about it in Raising Islands and in the SOEST press release. Image courtesy of Anette von der Handt, SOEST/UH; click on it for the full version.
	Mar 31 : Gulf Stream leaves its signature seven miles high A new study reveals that the Gulf Stream — which keeps Iceland and Scotland comfortable in winter compared to the deep-freeze of Labrador at the same latitude — anchors a precipitation band with upward motions and cloud formations that can reach seven miles high. International Pacific Research Center (IPRC) researcher and Meteorology department professor Shang-Ping Xie is a co-author of the study, recently published in the journal Nature. Read more in the UH News or the New Scientist. Image courtesy of Nature; click on it to see the full image.
	Mar 25 : April is Tsunami Awareness Month in Hawai‘i Kwok Fai Cheung, professor in the Department of Ocean and Resources Engineering (ORE), along with several graduate and postdoctoral students, created a new tsunami inundation computer model with topographic data provided by the Army Corps of Engineers. LIDAR was used to obtain high-resolution topographic data for all islands to determine the land elevation for the computer model, which determines how far inland tsunami waves will reach. While the data are being finalized, residents can go to the state Civil Defense Web site to see maps of the tsunami inundation zones. Read more in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and KHON2. Image courtesy of ORE; click on it to see the full version.
	Mar 22 : Chloride salt deposits are clues of past Martian water Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) graduate student Mikki Osterloo is first author on a paper published in Science magazine detailing spectral observations from NASA’s Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System that enabled the detection of chloride minerals, apparently formed from the evaporation of water, across some of the oldest regions on Mars. Co-authors include her PhD advisors, HIGP associate researchers Vicky Hamilton and Scott Anderson. Read more about it in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, the National Geographic, BBC, and New York Times. Image courtesy of Mikki Osterloo; click on it to go to a full version.
	Mar 21 : Severe erosion eats up Kailua Beach Department of Geology & Geophysics researchers say the shoreline at Kailua Beach, one of the most beautiful and popular beaches in the state, is receding at a potentially dangerous rate. “This is the worst erosion we’ve seen here in 20 years,” said professor Chip Fletcher, department chair and head of the Coastal Geology Group. Fletcher says one factor is that global sea level is rising; another factor involves recent sand management practices. “In a sense, it’s like mining the beach.” Read more about it at KHNL online. Image courtesy of KNHL.
	Mar 21 : Scientists get an unprecedented look at Hawai‘i’s reefs Scientists from the Bishop Museum used the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL) Pisces IV and Pisces V to explore an extraordinary expanse of coral reef at depths of 150 to 330 feet off the coast of Maui. Funded by a $1.4 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the expedition was the first of a three-year study designed to document these largely unexplored ecosystems, and to study the impact of pollution on this region. Read more abouty it in Honolulu Magazine. Image courtesy of KHNL online.
	Mar 18 : HIGP participation in Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission Three HIGP faculty have just been selected to be participating scientists on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission: Jeff Gillis-Davis, B. Ray Hawke, and Paul Lucey. The LRO will spend at least one year in low polar orbit around the Moon, collecting detailed information about the Lunar environment. The LRO payload, comprised of six instruments and one technology demonstration, will provide key data sets to enable a human return to the Moon. Read more about the mission, which heads to the Moon late this year, at the mission website. Image courtesy of NASA; click on it to see the full image.
	Mar 18 : “Ocean desert” areas relatively plankton-free, thus fish-free A new study by Melanie Abecassis, visiting scholar at Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (JIMAR), and other National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) researchers shows human-caused global warming may be the cause of a rapid recent expansion of desert-like barrenness in the Earth’s oceans, areas that are relatively plankton-free, and thus fish-free. Read more about it on the New York Times and at the NOAA News Page. Image courtesy of NOAA; click on it to see the full version.
	Mar 11 : Asteroid “7237 Vickyhamilton (1988 VH)” Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) associate researcher Vicky Hamilton has had an asteroid named after her. Asteroid “7237 Vickyhamilton (1988 VH)” is a main belt asteroid, which was discovered in 1988. Her name was submitted by colleague Tom Burbine to the Committee for Small-Body Nomenclature of the International Astronomical Union. Only about 14,000 asteroids have been named out of approximately 400,000 that have been discovered. Congratulations, Vicky! To find out more about Asteroid 7237 Vickyhamilton, please see JPL’s small body database. Image of orbit courtesy of JPL; click on it to see the full version.
	Mar 04 : Family of cartographers Director of the Hawaii Mapping Research Group (HMRG) Margo Edwards was recently appointed to the Scientific Ice Expedition (SCICEX) Science Advisory Committee. SCICEX is a collaboration between the US Navy and civilian scientists for geological and environmental research in the Arctic Ocean. The focus of the committee is to develop and help implement arctic science plans for use with the US Navy submarines. Read more in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin about the work she and her husband, HMRG computer network engineer Roger Davis, are doing to raise awareness of energy and climate change issues. Image courtesy of Craig T. Kojima, Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
	Feb 26 : New Kaua‘i shoreline bill among nation’s most conservative Coastal geologist Chip Fletcher, chair of the Geology and Geophysics department, comments on the new shoreline building setback law just adopted for Kaua‘i County. It is the most aggressive shoreline building setback law in the state, a powerful policy that aims to protect coastal structures against 70 to 100 years of erosion. Read more about it in Raising Islands, a blog “about Hawai‘i science and environment” by former Honolulu Advertiser reporter Jan TenBruggencate. Image courtesy of Chip Fletcher; click on it to go to the Hawai‘i Coastal Erosion Website interactive map of the Kaua‘i coastline.
	Feb 21 : Oceanography research program reaches milestone On February 21, 2008, the SOEST research vessel Kilo Moana departed from the UH Marine Expeditionary Center at pier 45 on the 200th scientific expedition of the Hawai‘i Ocean Time-series (HOT) after nearly 20 years of approximately monthly research cruises to observe and interpret habitat variability and to track climate impacts on Hawai‘i’s marine ecosystem. Read more about it in the SOEST press release (PDF). Image courtesy of SOEST / HOT.
	Feb 20 : Worldwide effects of human activity on oceans mapped Almost half of the world’s oceans have been seriously affected by over fishing, pollution, and climate change, according to a major study of man’s impact on marine life published in an upcoming issue of the journal Science. Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) post-doctoral researcher Kimberly Selkoe is part of an international team of scientists who have produced the first comprehensive map showing the combined impact of human activity on the planet’s seas and oceans. It shows that more than 40% of marine regions have been significantly altered, while just four per cent remains in a relatively pristine state. Read more about it at the Telegraph and in the NSF Press Release. Image courtesy of NCEAS; click on it to see the full version.
	Feb 20 : Former HIGP post-doctoral fellow on space shuttle mission The spectacular launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis on 07 February 2008 at 9:45 am HST marked the first space flight for astronaut Stanley G. Love, a former Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) post-doctoral fellow. In 1994 Dr. Love was here researching and modeling the formation of meteoritic chondrules and the collisional evolution of asteroids. Congratulations, Stan! Read more about it on the NASA Mission Page, which has links to pre-flight interviews, biographies, and more for all of the astronauts. Image courtesy of NASA; click on it to see the full version.
	Feb 07 : Close shark encounter 3300 ft under the sea Hawai‘i oceanography professors Jeff Drazen and Craig Smith, and others, captured extraordinary video of an 18-foot deep-sea six-gill shark during a 2006 research submersible dive off Moloka‘i. The animal, a member of the species Hexanchus griseus, had a head “a meter wide” and bumped into the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory's (HURL) Pisces V submersible while it was at a depth of 3300 feet. The video can be seen on YouTube Read more about it in Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Image courtesy of Eric Vetter and Craig Smith; click on it to see the full version.
	Feb 06 : Karl on why world’s plastic floats around Hawai‘i David Karl, professor of oceanography, director of the Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education (C-MORE), and member of the US National Academy of Sciences, has been interviewed recently about the enormous mass of plastic that accumulates just below the surface in the Pacific Ocean around Hawai‘i. This “plastic soup“ of waste is growing at an alarming rate and now covers an area twice the size of the continental United States. Read more about it in The Independent and www.abc.net.au. Listen to the RadioLive podcast at (click on the link “LUSH~Why the world's plastic makes floats to Hawaii” dated 05-Feb-2008; may not work on Macs) or download the MP3. Image courtesy of Independent Graphics; click on it to go to the full version.
	Feb 06 : Demonstrating the effects of sea level rise To dramatize the projected impact of a sea level rise of one meter, community members drew a blue chalk line along seven blocks in Honolulu to illustrate how far the ocean would advance if the sea rises 39 inches in the next century. “When you see the blue line, it maps the community that’s vulnerable. And it’s just warning to us that we should not ignore this future process that’s going to take place," says Chip Fletcher, chair of the Department of Geology and Geophysics, and a driving force behind the research that inspired last week’s visual demonstration. Read more about it at KHNL News 8 online here (with video) and here (with more about climate change), and in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin (with more about the international climate conference); see a slide show of images at the Honolulu Advertiser. Image courtesy of Coastal Geology Group (CGG).
	Jan 25 : Detecting the glint of starlight on the oceans of distant planets In an upcoming issue of the journal Icarus, Darren Williams of Pennsylvania State University, Behrend, and Eric Gaidos of the UH Department of Geology and Geophysics model how a distant planet would reflect light towards Earth as it orbits its star such that when a planet with water on its surface appears as a crescent, light striking the smooth surface of a large sea or ocean would make it appear brighter. The more uniform scattering from the rough surface of a drier planet means that it would not get brighter in this way. Read more about it in New Scientist. Image courtesy of NASA, shows sunlight reflected off the waters near the island of O‘ahu; click on it to see a larger version.
	Jan 24 : New book on carbon in Earth’s geobiosphere Emeritus Professor Fred T. Mackenzie of the Department of Oceanography has co-written a new book titled Carbon in the Geobiosphere: Earth’s Outer Shell, with Abraham Lerman (Northwestern University) and published by Springer-Verlag. In a review published in the Journal of Environmental Quality, Dr. Jeffrey P. Obbard (National University of Singapore) says “The text provides a remarkable insight into the biological and inorganic geochemical processes governing the chemistry of the carbon cycle since the formation of the primordial Earth to the present, with particular focus on global carbon reservoirs and the fluxes between them… It is difficult to think of a more important book for one of the greatest issues facing humanity in the 21st century.” Read the full review on the Springer web site. Image courtesy of Springer.
	Jan 14 : New book on latest advances in climate modeling Jeffrey Gillis-Davis, an assistant researcher in the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP), is a team member on the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) space mission. When the spacecraft made a close flyby of the planet Mercury on Monday, January 14th, it was the first spacecraft to visit Mercury in thirty-three years. The image shown here is the first look at Mercury’s previously unseen side (click on it to go to the mission site, which has the full version). Read more about it in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and on the UH News page, and download the SOEST press release PDF. Image courtesy of NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington.
	Jan 07 : New book on latest advances in climate modeling Professor Kevin Hamilton, of the International Pacific Research Center (IPRC) and the Department of Meteorology, and Wataru Ohfuchi, group leader at the JAMSTEC Earth Simulator Center in Yokohama, Japan, have edited High Resolution Numerical Modeling of the Atmosphere and Ocean. This book presents exciting recent developments in simulations of the flow in the atmosphere and the ocean with computer models that have very fine-resolution representations. Read more about it in News@UH site and the IPRC press release. Image courtesy of the publisher, Springer; click on it to see the full version.
	Jan 03 : Using fuzzy logic to get miles out of hybrids and electric cars Bor Yann Liaw and Matthew Dubarry, researchers at Hawai‘i Natural Energy Institute’s Electrochemical Power Systems Laboratory, are working on improving our understanding of how electric vehicles work, and how to make the battery banks last longer. In their most recent paper, they combined “fuzzy logic” — a way of analyzing complex systems that don’t produce simple yes-no or true-false answers — and pattern recognition to track the behavior of test vehicles. Read more about it in the Raising Islands--Hawai‘i science and environment. Image courtesy of SOEST / HNEI.
Jump to: January \| February \| March \| April \| May \| June \| July \| August \| September \| October \| November \| December Return to SOEST News \| Go to News Archives for: 2008 • 2007 • 2006 • 2005 • 2004 • 2003 • 2002 See also: SOEST Bulletin • Awards and Honors • Press Releases If you have news to share, or would like more information about any of the above, please contact: Tara Hicks Johnson, Outreach Specialist 2525 Correa Rd, HIG 135, Honolulu, HI 96822 USA Tel: (808) 956-3151 • Fax: (808) 956-9987 Email: hickst@hawaii.edu Mahalo! (Thank you!) Return to the top of this page.

SOEST in the News: 2008

Apr 29 : HNEI leads federal energy research project in Hawai‘i

Apr 23 : Mysterious currents in our oceans

Apr 22 : Two UH Sea Grant personnel in the news

Apr 22 : Sea level rise to slowly swamp coastal zones

Apr 17 : The need for more lunar scientists

Apr 17 : HURL subs to help with weapons at sea assessment

Apr 15 : Opportunities for Hawai‘i science majors

Apr 12 : Seafloor sediments reveal size of ancient asteroid strike

Apr 03 : First explosive eruption at Halema‘uma‘u since 1924

Mar 31 : SOEST scientists find seafloor rock 2 billion years old

Mar 31 : Gulf Stream leaves its signature seven miles high

Mar 25 : April is Tsunami Awareness Month in Hawai‘i

Mar 22 : Chloride salt deposits are clues of past Martian water

Mar 21 : Severe erosion eats up Kailua Beach

Mar 21 : Scientists get an unprecedented look at Hawai‘i’s reefs

Mar 18 : HIGP participation in Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission

Mar 18 : “Ocean desert” areas relatively plankton-free, thus fish-free

Mar 11 : Asteroid “7237 Vickyhamilton (1988 VH)”

Mar 04 : Family of cartographers

Feb 26 : New Kaua‘i shoreline bill among nation’s most conservative

Feb 21 : Oceanography research program reaches milestone

Feb 20 : Worldwide effects of human activity on oceans mapped

Feb 20 : Former HIGP post-doctoral fellow on space shuttle mission

Feb 07 : Close shark encounter 3300 ft under the sea

Feb 06 : Karl on why world’s plastic floats around Hawai‘i

Feb 06 : Demonstrating the effects of sea level rise

Jan 25 : Detecting the glint of starlight on the oceans of distant planets

Jan 24 : New book on carbon in Earth’s geobiosphere

Jan 14 : New book on latest advances in climate modeling

Jan 07 : New book on latest advances in climate modeling

Jan 03 : Using fuzzy logic to get miles out of hybrids and electric cars

Return to SOEST News | Go to News Archives for: 2008 • 2007 • 2006 • 2005 • 2004 • 2003 • 2002

See also: SOEST Bulletin • Awards and Honors • Press Releases

If you have news to share, or would like more information about any of the above, please contact: